they can actually sue you for this (notary id mistake)

So as notaries, one of our biggest jobs, well, our primary job is to prevent theft and fraud. We are the first line defense for notaries against fraud prevention. I bet you didn't know that. That's our job because we are sitting there face to face with people before they sign very, very important documents, right? Sometimes legal documents. So we must be able to identify them and make sure that who is before us is really before us. Right? Because right now there's so much fraud going on. We're going to look up the statistics of how much fraud is going on, how fraud has changed in this world. I mean we have the digital age, we have AI. You can create a face of anybody and make a bed gum id. So how do you know what's a real ID versus a fake one? I'm going to show you some stuff, steps, you know, the National Notary association is an excellent resource for that. So we're going to look at some stuff. But number one, I want you to know your state's ID and what it looks like, what's on the sides, what's all around it so you can identify what a real ID looks like. Super important. All right, so let's get into it. Okay. So one of the major things that is important in this industry is knowing whether or not somebody is who they say they are. First line of defense of that is looking at their id. Now I don't know about you, but I've lost weight, I've gained weight, I changed my hair. Men have mustaches, beards. You can't really see how they real face look sometimes. Right? How do you know that the person on this ID is the exact same person as standing before you? According to this website is the National Notary Association. And right here it says a face matching research survey involved more than 1150 notaries found that they failed to spot imposters about 28% of the time and about 20% of the time the server bears thought people were imposters when they really were not. Long story short, we don't know, we can't tell. So that's what we're doing this video about. How can we better detect fraud? How can we better detect a fake id? One of the first things that you need to do is know the the type of ID that's used in your state. Now I didn't know this, I just found this out in this article. But it says notaries should be familiar with IDs issued by their state and wish to keep, and may wish to keep an identification book available that includes descriptions and sample images of driver's licenses and IDs issued by other states. So that is a googleable thing, right? See if it takes us to their ID verification book. Didn't even know that existed. Here. The National Notary Association ID Checking Guide, US and Canada for 2025. Right. This one is an ID Checking Guide International. So that includes driver's licenses, that includes passports, that includes everything that you need. This really, really, really, really, really might be a great investment. Again, this is your business. You need to know who is in front of you. You need to understand the types of identifications that are used in this business. All right. To spot a fake id, look for the right security features. It is important to know what features your state uses on common forms of id such as driver's license. Compare the photo and the description with your signer. You can ask questions to see if they if the bearer can correctly provide information such as their date of birth as the name of the major cross street to their address. Like you can throw some people off, baby, when you start asking some questions. And that major cross street question is a really good question because maybe they have to think about it, but once they do, then you got to look it up to make sure that that's the right thing, that that is the right cross street. Right? So it goes deeper than just looking at the ID, looking at the person looking at the ID, it's kind of studying the ID, studying the security features that are on IDs. So if somebody can present a fake ID, what are some ways that we can make sure that they have the right facial features that are on their id? You know, you can gain weight, you can lose weight, you can change your hair color, but a lot of times you can't change the size of your ears, mouth, nose and eyes. Those are the things that you should pay attention to. So look at the person's ears, nose, mouth and eyes. Examine the nose line or general size and shape of the chin. The distance between the nose, mouth and chin can be revealing. But don't just stick to one set of features. What works when checking some individuals will not always work when checking other individuals. So it's a good idea to check a few features without getting tripped up by hair, weight and skin shade. Super important. Now it may seem like being a notary, man, you got so much freaking stuff to do that you got to be the expert. Guess what? You have to do the reasonable measures, right? For any person who is verifying somebody's identity, you will not be the expert. You can compare the signature on the ID and on the document. You can compare the photo to the physical person as well as the physical description. But it's all just a judgment call, to be honest with you. So there's a certain protocol for notaries that have three best practices. Look for suspicious circumstances. Is the signer trying to rush you or distract you from your normal procedures? Is the signer explaining why their signature might not match and why they don't look like the photo? A little common sense, y', all, goes a long way. Examine the id, look at the ID closely and check the various security features such as the ghost images in microprinting and raised lettering. Have an ID book with you, handy for out of state IDs. And lastly, match the ID to the signer. Instead of looking at the hair, weight and other changeable features, focus on features that don't change that much, such as the shape and position of the ears, the nose, mouth and the eyes. By following these steps, you can clearly explain your method of reasonably identifying and verifying a signer if you are ever called to court. Because that's the main goal. We never want to go to court. We never ever, ever, ever, ever want to go to court. But if you have to and you have to explain your protocol for how you verify an id, this is paramount, all right? So save this video. If I were you, I'd get that ID book. The one for the United States, I believe, was $28 link above. It's super important that we have the tools and materials in order to do our job. So God bless you and if you are ever concerned about going to court, we have E and O insurance, we have bonding. But who's your attorney? Who can you ask legal questions to if you ever get that call to say, listen, my name is such and such, Officer, such and such you were involved in. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I know your heart is going to sink, but you need a plan. Just like you bought that E O insurance and you keep it. When you get into some real trouble. Honey, sometimes that hundred thousand dollars ain't gonna do diddly squat. But you gotta have something.

So I know people who have a million dollar policy, a five million dollar policy, that's good, but you're still gonna need an attorney to go to court with you. Speak to my attorney about it. You know, don't answer any calls. I mean, don't answer any questions over the phone on your own. Speak to your attorney and then have your attorney call them. Oh, you don't have an attorney if you do not have an attorney, that's important in this business because you are going to get man the phone numbers in the. My. My professional circle of people that I can call, I call the nna. I keep my membership with the National Notary association. Period. It's 80 bucks a year. Do it. Period. Why? Because when everybody else is asleep, they're awake. I can call them at 9pm and they answer the phone. And if they can't answer it, at least I got somebody on the phone who was able to talk to me. The other part of that is.

I have a legal. I have legal counsel. I don't have just a lawyer. I have a legal firm behind me. If you are interested in knowing what that legal firm is and who that is and how you can get it too. Because guess what? For legal counsel, I only pay 39amonth. Now, if you have E O insurance through Bible, you pay way more than that for your E O insurance on a monthly basis. But that's just like insurance, right? You can't call by Burke and ask them questions. It's important to have insurance. If you want to know how you too can get legal representation, Unlimited calls and questions for just $39 a month, text me at 713-445-6553. Text the word legal representation along with your name and I'll either give you a call or send you some information or both. But you can text it to that number. Again, that number is 713-4456. Text legal representation and I'll send it to you immediately just. Just like that. All right. God bless.